Read Online Joshua and the Cowgirl by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online
Authors: Sherryl Woods
Ads: Link
the rest of you? How do you feel?”
“I can’t even feel my feet.”
“Let’s take a look,” he said, releasing her hands. “Sit right here in front of the fire.” She huddled on the braided rug, her shoulders hunched over her knees as he reached for her boots and tugged them off. “Wiggle your toes.”
She stared at her feet, an expression of consternation on her face. Nothing happened. “I think they’re too stiff to wiggle,” she said finally.
Joshua picked up one icy foot and began to rub, trying hard to ignore the effect that touching her was having on him. For a man who was half frozen, he was having decidedly overheated thoughts. Since those thoughts were about as out of place tonight as he was in this cabin, he concentrated instead on Garrett’s poor, icy feet.
Think of it as a medical emergency, he told his straying libido. The truth of that had absolutely no impact. Instead he found himself fascinated by the incongruity of a woman who ran a cattle ranch and prided herself on tough, fiery independence wearing a frosty-pink toenail polish. Sexiness hidden by rawhide, vulnerability protected by cactus prickliness. It seemed to sum up her whole intriguing personality.
As if she sensed the direction of his thoughts, Garrett drew away from him. “They’re better now,” she said. “Why don’t you check to see if there are some dry clothes we can put on, while I make that coffee?”
The last thing Joshua wanted to do right that second was put on clothes. With an intensity that rocked him, he realized he was much more interested in getting the rest of Garrett’s clothes off. He wanted her with a blaze of raw desire that could have heated the whole damned cabin. The force of his yearning was compounded by the certainty that he shouldn’t take her, not tonight, maybe not ever. There were too many complications, too many unanswered questions. He’d discovered the depths of his own feelings tonight, but he had no idea what he should do about them. As for Garrett, he couldn’t even begin to guess what she was thinking, what she was feeling.
Oh, she wanted him. He had few doubts about that. But she would have regrets in the morning and even deeper ones after he’d gone. Some instinct warned him that she’d been left once too often in the past. Joshua wouldn’t be the one to do it to her again and until he’d given it a lot more thought, he couldn’t promise her that wouldn’t happen.
To take his mind off the needs his body had expressed in plain, masculine language, he looked around the single room and decided that calling it a shack was a serious misnomer. Though it was small, it was well equipped for emergencies or for those times when cowboys were chasing cattle far from the bunkhouse. A lone, narrow bed, made up with white sheets and layers of colorful wool blankets, was pushed against one wall. A sofa, which likely converted to a bed, had been placed in front of the fire and a small kitchen area included a refrigerator, well-stocked cupboards, a stove and a rough-hewn table with two chairs. A well-used deck of cards on the table was testimony to the late-night pursuits of the last occupants and curtains at the windows suggested a woman’s touch in this man’s domain. There was no sign of a telephone or radio. The cabin’s one other door led, he hoped, to a bathroom.
Before investigating that, he opened a trunk at the foot of the bed and found several flannel shirts, neatly folded, along with a pair of jeans. He held the pants next to his body and decided they were probably an inch or two short, but they’d do. He went into the bathroom, took a shower in surprisingly hot water, dressed and then took another of the shirts to Garrett.
“Go change. I’ll watch the coffee.”
While she was gone, he found cups, then hunted in the cupboards for a can of soup. It had been hours since dinner and they needed to get something more into them besides caffeine. He dumped the chicken noodle soup
“I can’t even feel my feet.”
“Let’s take a look,” he said, releasing her hands. “Sit right here in front of the fire.” She huddled on the braided rug, her shoulders hunched over her knees as he reached for her boots and tugged them off. “Wiggle your toes.”
She stared at her feet, an expression of consternation on her face. Nothing happened. “I think they’re too stiff to wiggle,” she said finally.
Joshua picked up one icy foot and began to rub, trying hard to ignore the effect that touching her was having on him. For a man who was half frozen, he was having decidedly overheated thoughts. Since those thoughts were about as out of place tonight as he was in this cabin, he concentrated instead on Garrett’s poor, icy feet.
Think of it as a medical emergency, he told his straying libido. The truth of that had absolutely no impact. Instead he found himself fascinated by the incongruity of a woman who ran a cattle ranch and prided herself on tough, fiery independence wearing a frosty-pink toenail polish. Sexiness hidden by rawhide, vulnerability protected by cactus prickliness. It seemed to sum up her whole intriguing personality.
As if she sensed the direction of his thoughts, Garrett drew away from him. “They’re better now,” she said. “Why don’t you check to see if there are some dry clothes we can put on, while I make that coffee?”
The last thing Joshua wanted to do right that second was put on clothes. With an intensity that rocked him, he realized he was much more interested in getting the rest of Garrett’s clothes off. He wanted her with a blaze of raw desire that could have heated the whole damned cabin. The force of his yearning was compounded by the certainty that he shouldn’t take her, not tonight, maybe not ever. There were too many complications, too many unanswered questions. He’d discovered the depths of his own feelings tonight, but he had no idea what he should do about them. As for Garrett, he couldn’t even begin to guess what she was thinking, what she was feeling.
Oh, she wanted him. He had few doubts about that. But she would have regrets in the morning and even deeper ones after he’d gone. Some instinct warned him that she’d been left once too often in the past. Joshua wouldn’t be the one to do it to her again and until he’d given it a lot more thought, he couldn’t promise her that wouldn’t happen.
To take his mind off the needs his body had expressed in plain, masculine language, he looked around the single room and decided that calling it a shack was a serious misnomer. Though it was small, it was well equipped for emergencies or for those times when cowboys were chasing cattle far from the bunkhouse. A lone, narrow bed, made up with white sheets and layers of colorful wool blankets, was pushed against one wall. A sofa, which likely converted to a bed, had been placed in front of the fire and a small kitchen area included a refrigerator, well-stocked cupboards, a stove and a rough-hewn table with two chairs. A well-used deck of cards on the table was testimony to the late-night pursuits of the last occupants and curtains at the windows suggested a woman’s touch in this man’s domain. There was no sign of a telephone or radio. The cabin’s one other door led, he hoped, to a bathroom.
Before investigating that, he opened a trunk at the foot of the bed and found several flannel shirts, neatly folded, along with a pair of jeans. He held the pants next to his body and decided they were probably an inch or two short, but they’d do. He went into the bathroom, took a shower in surprisingly hot water, dressed and then took another of the shirts to Garrett.
“Go change. I’ll watch the coffee.”
While she was gone, he found cups, then hunted in the cupboards for a can of soup. It had been hours since dinner and they needed to get something more into them besides caffeine. He dumped the chicken noodle soup
Similar Books
